People are so recklessly and defiantly stupid.
 

Its amazing how many people left Pensacola thinking it wouldn't be complete and total destruction to their properties and possessions from Ivan.

I was just reading articles about so many people saying they lost all their pictures, momentos, etc.

WTF, everyone had days of warning. They knew this would be a fucking monster storm. They knew they were right in the path of the most violent wind sector.

Its real simple people, if you live in hurricane land or anywhere in the world subject to extreme weather, you should have big rubbermaid containers ready to go to take and protect your most important stuff so you don't lose it.

People think they can beat the odds on these events, and it just doesn't always work that way.

And people that build homes within feet of the ocean on the beach are insane to begin with. That's just a disaster waiting to happen. I can't even believe the government is going to fund rebuilding on these high risk beachfront lots.

People are crazy. There seems to be a lot of resentment spreading to help rebuild using tax money from other parts of the country.

yes exactly.
screw with mother nature and you will lose.

well KRL not that I really disagree with your points but almost the same could be said for many parts of the county.. I mean Earthquakes happen in Calli all the time, should the govt not help rebuild houses that are 5 miles from a fault line?.. Forrest Fires happen in the woods should people not build houses there? Tornado's in certain parts of the country Floods in other parts, The list could go on and on .

Natural disaster is just a part of life, if we didn't build houses where they "may" happen we would all be livening in Kentucky or some fucked up place like that.

So true. I pretty much suffered a direct hit on Frances this year. That was a Cat 2 and it was no joke. West Palm's doing a pretty good job of cleaning up the place.

But it was enough for me to decide that I won't be around for next season, whether I move or get the fuck out for a few months.

Obviously there is a difference though from generally risky areas to ultra high risk properties.

its ignorance.. "oh it wont happen to me."
but when it does, i have to agree that it is easier to place the burden on society than on the individuals themselves. it just comes down to your belief system.

What I don't understand is that these people live in Florida and didn't prepare for it. I'm not talking two weeks ago, I'm talking twenty years ago.

I lived in San Francisco for years. We knew the big one was coming sooner or later, and we prepared for it. When the power went out and the stores closed in 1989 from the big 7.0 quake, I was ready and tons of food stored.

I sat here and watched the roof over the pumps being torn off by wind at a Chevron station. They played this over and over on the news. You mean it didn't occur to anyone when it was build that a hurricane was going to happen?

And why isn't their power lines underground? It's not rocket science.

And the one thing that always cracks me up is everyone boarding up their windows. Did it ever occur to anyone to build metal shutters into their windows? At my Aunt's house in Europe she has metal shutters. At night she from inside the house she rolls them down and locks them from the inside. I would imagine it would be cheaper to have these installed then buying a few hundred bucks of wood every time a hurricane comes to town.

But when you told in advance that shits going to happen.
You need pack up your family and go, or suffer the consequence,
and by held resposible for not heading the warnings. :2 cents:

rockhard all new houses built in Florida are required to have storm shutters and meet the tougher hurricane codes.. such as reinforced garage doors, tie downs on the roof trusses and so on.. Most of the houses damaged are older pre Andrew most of the time.. However nothing will protect your house from flooding or a direct hit.

Far as the power lines go I agree they should all be underground.. but that's not up to us.. the power companies are the ones that would have to float that bill and I don't think they would want to do that.. However most new neighborhoods are underground utilities. The onther issue you have to look at is in some places if you dig down 3 feet you hit water. So a lot of places simply can not have underground utilites.

In reality big hurricanes don't hit here very often, most are in the 60-70mph range or lower by the time they hit.

Some people in the area didn't have funds to buy gas to travel, rent a hotel room for a few days, buy food, etc. then buy more gas to drive back then buy supplies they need and or another hotel room in town if their home was destroyed.

Also, if you think it was easy to evacuate, you are mistaken. Every piece of road was bumper to bumper for days prior to the hurrican hitting.

no one is saying they shouldn't, I'm just simply auguring the fact that there are places all over this country that fit the same high profile for damage as beach front propriety.

Also when you leave you're open to looters and many times you're not allowed back until the government decides it's OK for you to go back.

It would be a touch decision to leave or not.

yeah no shit, they should have stayed and died. gone out hard not just sat in a motel 6 drinking free hot chocolate.

I personally agree with you!:winkwink:

What is more baffling to me is why do people keep rebuilding there?..I would move to a safer location.I know it's beautiful ,but I couldn't go through this all the time

Especially when it's a $3million dollar home on the beach, 1st tier.

They DON'T go through this all the time. I have family in FL and some have been there for 40+ years. On the ocean (both sides), ICW and rivers. None of them have had more than $1-2K in hurricane damage TOTAL all those years.

Like any natural disaster, you can't pick and choose who's going to be hit. My son is in Biloxi where they thought Ivan was going to come ashore. They were bunkered down for almost a full day, never even had much rain.

400+ miles away, I had 10 inches of rain in less than 6 hours, major flooding, entire homes were taken when the rivers overflowed and I didn't have power for 40 hours. Same storm.

You're going to have natural disasters EVERYWHERE.

That said, I think there needs to be regulations about where to build as far as the water is concerned. There are homes in the Outer Banks of NC that are taken into the ocean every time there's a N'oreaster :(

I also don't think the government needs to pay for private citizens to rebuild on the waterfront. But that's just me :)

If you live in these areas go to walmart and get yourself some 18 gallon containers. They cost under $4 and you just have to ask yourself are your pictures and other prized possesions worth less than the $4 it would cost to save them...

I lived in Florida for a few years and never ceased to be amazed at the stupidity of the average Floridian.

Florida ranks close to last in terms of education. I hope this helps you understand why so many people are too stupid to pack up their things and take them to safety.

My God, at least have the common sense to pack up your family photos!

1) Most people in the south who have a lot of money do not live on the coasts. Those houses are older than most of the trolls in this board put together and have been in those famalies for generations. So it is not like those people have a lot of money to add things to their houses.

2) Power lines need upgrades all the time as well as changed parts. It would cost the electrical company lots of money to build things that could be submerged in water and also to dig them up and bury them everytime something wore out, exploded or neede to be upgraded.

3) When you evacuate 4-6 people in a truck or car, how many pictures and such can you really fit in while carrying essentials like food, water, blankets and clothing for each person for a week? If they left that and brought old pictures then they would really be stupid.

4) The storms happen every year so we all know what can happen, but the worst does not happen every year. Last year was pretty calm, the year before that was bad and this year is pretty active. The hurricane is known for pushing water in from the Gulf as well as pushing rivers up over banks and sustained winds but it is the TORNADOS that they spawn that are the real danger. A hurricane can sit on top of you for hours and you will be relatively fine if you do not drown but a tornado sitting on you for 60 seconds will cause massive destruction. There is not much a house will do when hit with a tornado. Also unless you are going to be dumping money into structures every few years to make sure they are 100% secure you are going to get high winds breaking things, much cheaper to repairing than to keep working on it replacing old rivets and sheetmetal.

One thing I've always done is put all my negatives of pictures in a safe deposit box at the bank. Yes, back in the old days, we used to take pictures and get the film developed :)

Now I put picture CDs in the same safe deposit boxes. I also have all my paper pictures in plastic storage bins either at the house or a storage room I rent.

There are very few things I would grab on the way out if this place caught fire - pets, rolodex, laptop. I have some family antiques that obviously I wouldn't be able to take with me, but at least I know my pictures are safe :)

Believe it...

Some rich asshole can build a house right on the beach and not even have to carry his own private insurance because FEMA will automatically give out grants to rebuild your house if you're living in a designated disaster area.

Now take that into consideration when you look at the people who got fucked up in the NOrth Carolina mountains. They weren't even told to evacuate because they're not in the flood plain. Then a 300 foot wall of water comes through and sweeps people and their homes away. Do you think FEMA is going to pay for their shit? Hell no. It isn't in a designated disaster area and if they didn't pay for the right insurance, they're fucked.

I read something about how the whole FEMA thing is shady awhile ago and your post brought it back to me. I didn't pay the article any attention at the time but now I wish I did.

The same here, where people build their homes in areas prone to mudslides....like it never rains in Washington State...and then they expect the state to cover the rebuilding of their houses.

The destroyed homes should be replaced with Dome Homes.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...vandome18.html

It would be smart, and make florida look cool and futuristic.